Lincecum signs 2-year, $23M deal with Giants

Big Hurt retires

SAN FRANCISCO - Tim Lincecum can finally move forward from a contract situation that was unsettled all winter and focus on baseball again. Same goes for the San Francisco Giants.

Lincecum and the Giants reached a preliminary agreement Friday on a $23 million, two-year contract ahead of the scheduled start of an arbitration hearing.

The two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had been set to ask for an arbitration-record $13 million salary for 2010 during a hearing Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lincecum gets a $2 million signing bonus, $8 million this year, $13 million in 2011 and the chance to earn performance and award bonuses. The agreement is subject to a physical.

The tiny, hard-throwing pitcher his teammates call "Franchise" and "Freak" is getting a nice raise from his $650,000 salary last year.

Things came together Friday morning in a surprising development, Giants vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans said in a phone interview before leaving Florida. The Giants did offer Lincecum a three-year deal.

"It's a win-win for both sides," Evans said, noting nothing will be official until Lincecum passes the physical. "I had no idea. I was not expecting a settlement at all. I don't know what changed. It's always ideal to have something both agree to as opposed to a third party figuring it out. We can focus on baseball from here forward."

In addition to his salary, Lincecum would earn $200,000 for pitching 225 innings, a figure he reached in each of his two full seasons. He would get $500,000 for each Cy Young Award, $250,000 for second, $100,000 for third, $75,000 for fourth and $50,000 for fifth. He also would get $100,000 each time he's an All-Star, $100,000 for NL MVP, $75,000 for World Series MVP and $50,000 for league championship series MVP.

Big Hurt Retires

CHICAGO - Saying he's "at peace" with his decision, Frank Thomas announced his retirement Friday following a 19-season career in which he hit 521 homers and won two AL MVP awards with the Chicago White Sox.

Considering he didn't play last season, the news was hardly shocking.

"It took awhile to get to this point," the 41-year-old Thomas said during a news conference at U.S. Cellular Field. "I know I hadn't played since 2008, but I had to get baseball out of my system before I made this announcement. I'm happy with this announcement. I'm at peace with it. I had one heck of a career. I'm proud of it."

With his power and ability to hit for a high average and reach base, Thomas figures to land in the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible.

A five-time All-Star who batted .301 with a .419 on-base average, Thomas is tied for 18th with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey on baseball's home run list while driving in 1,704 runs.

Thomas split his final three seasons between Oakland and Toronto, but he'll be remembered most for a 16-year run with the White Sox.